Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I am very happy to confirm that, in terms of schools in the Northern Territory, there will be clear funding growth. Across all schools in the Northern Territory, funding will grow from $348 million this year all the way up to $610 million by 2027. For government schools in the Northern Territory, that funding is forecast to grow from $191 million this year all the way up to $261 million by 2027. In relation to a per student figure in the Northern Territory, that is forecast to grow from around $8,360 per student in 2017 to around $11,870 per student on average by 2027.

These are all clear figures of growth. And, notably and correctly, the highest level of per-student funding in the country is currently for students in the Northern Territory and under these reforms will continue to be for students in the Northern Territory by a long, long margin. It is befitting, noting and reflecting the very particular needs in the Territory as a community with large numbers of Indigenous students, with large numbers of students facing particular issues of disadvantage, and with many schools operating in very remote areas with very small school numbers, that it receives the highest level of support in the nation on a per-student basis that continues to grow into the future and will be maintained as such.